Monday, August 20, 2007

CSFF Tour - Legend of the Firefish Overview

Ah, that time of month again, when the bloggers of the Christian Sci-fi/Fantasy Tour set sail to bring you a new highlight from the world of Christian speculative fiction.

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This month we are featuring Legend of the Firefish, book one of The Trophy Chase series (Harvest House), by George Bryan Polivka. There's a lot of great people posting on this book below - make sure to check them out.

I will be doing an overview of the book today. Tomorrow I'll discuss the good features of the book I enjoyed, and to be fair I'll talk about the writing weaknesses I picked up on, and if they are truly "weaknesses".

The Legend of the Firefish sets the reader in a new world, starting in the kingdom of Nearing Vast with young Packer Throme. He has a mysterious past as the son of a local fisherman who started off in seminary and has returned to his village with a talent for swordplay. He is in love with the beautiful, if sheltered Panna Seline, daughter of the local priest.

His motivation is twofold- to restore the fortunes of the declining fishing villages of his home region and to be worthy of the love of Panna. His plan entails hooking up with Scat Wilkins, notorious pirate captain of the Trophy Case, and tracking the elusive, legendary Firefish. This beast is a true sea serpent that is dangerous to all who dare hunt it, but its meat confers healing and power to the person who eats it.

Getting near Scat won't be easy with his security officer, the mysterious Drammune woman Talon, whose infamy with the sword is only equaled by her cruelty and her mysterious powers.

This is a book that is unique in Christian fiction right now (as far as I know). It has the feel of a historical novel with the fantastical elements of the sea creatures and mystery of Talon to place it in a different category. There is action aplenty- swordfights, storms, disguises, subterfuge. It also presents questions of faith, and challenges the bonds of the Spirit and of love.

Again, check out the other blogs below over the next couple of days for more on this book, and I'll have more tomorrow.